


Actions and Consequences

by chasethewind



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fake Kiss, Fake Out Make Out, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Jealous Oliver, Missions Gone Wrong, Undercover Missions, rolicity kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-31
Updated: 2014-09-18
Packaged: 2018-02-11 04:57:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2054496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethewind/pseuds/chasethewind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When do missions ever go right? Caught between a rock and a hard place, Felicity is forced into a situation that leads to a wealth of problems in its wake. Can the team overcome its shortcomings? More importantly, will Roy live to see another day?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to repost this after much deliberation and one hell of an internal struggle. I'd also like to note that anyone who doesn't like it, just MOVE ALONG! Don't leave a comment. Don't be an ass. Just be on your merry way. I will NOT tolerate anyone's crap about this fic. So anyone who's got a problem with it can shut the hell up.

The tension that night in the lair was palpable. They all sat around her computers, shoulders drawn, eyes locked on screens as she pulled up one camera feed after another, each showing a different angle of the mansion they were about to infiltrate. Schematics, floor plans, guest lists and information about the layout of the server room were soon downloaded onto each of their phones, one by one, until everyone had pertinent information in the palm of their hands.

To put it simply, Felicity Smoak preferred to be prepared for any situation, even ones that might come up unexpectedly. Her team was important to her and she'd do whatever it took to keep them all safe. In this instance, it was donning an overly expensive [evening gown made of flowing gold colored silk](http://38.media.tumblr.com/4efc062028de2b693a7765f2ec24fe9c/tumblr_n39kkpY0hL1rpr3ijo1_400.jpg). The straps were thick and completely encrusted with crystal jewels, just like the starburst that flared out along her left hip. Paired with the deep vee cut at the neckline to accentuate her breasts and a slit that nearly reached the top of her left thigh, she was a vision in yellow. She'd chosen her favorite silver Jimmy Choo strappy sandals that made her legs look miles long to complete the outfit.

Judging from the reactions she'd gotten from all three men in the room, the price Felicity had paid was more than worth it. Newcomer Roy Harper had been the first to lay eyes on her as she carefully descended the stairs into the lair. His dumbstruck gaze and slack jaw made her smile as she reached the last step.

"Wow, Blondie, you really clean up," Roy murmured as his eyes unabashedly raked over her body. He was quick to stride forward, taking her hand to keep her steady as she swept her dress up in the other and began to walk towards her computers.

Her heels clicking across the floor soon caught John Diggle's attention. Although he'd seen her in plenty of evening gowns these past few months, it was still refreshing to find the appreciative look in his eyes when they settled on her. She gave him a nod before heading to her desk and setting down her silver, jewel encrusted clutch.

That only left their fearless leader (who she surmised was probably getting ready for the evening himself) as the last person to see her transformation from executive assistant to arm candy that night.

Felicity had compromised on her hair, [leaving it half down while the other half was swept up in a mass of golden curls](http://33.media.tumblr.com/5eb025c19bdd5e8cc7c56893b81239e2/tumblr_n39kkpY0hL1rpr3ijo2_500.jpg) held back by crystal flower pins. Simple diamond stud earrings graced her ears and she wore no necklace fearing it would be a little over the top with all the glitter and glam she was already wearing, which also meant keeping her makeup understated and to a minimum as well.

A sharp inhale had her turning towards the sound before she could even process what was happening. It was then that Felicity's eyes locked onto those of her boss. He wore an expression akin to that which Roy had when he first saw her. But this was Oliver Queen she was talking about, a man who had most definitely seen her in all kinds of evening gowns these past few months. Why would this one take his breath away?

"You look… stunning." Oliver breathed out the last word as if trying to get his bearings. It felt strangely odd seeing him like this. Usually it was Felicity getting flustered at the sight of him in an expensive three piece suit and tie, not the other way around. She couldn't help the smile that grew on her lips at the thought as she turned around to face the bank of computers behind her. Besides, seeing him in that fitted black tuxedo was more than enough to make her heart race. Why did that man have to look so good in everything he wore?

Counting backwards from three in her head, Felicity let out a deep breath and scanned through the intel one more time. One last run through of the plan in her mind and she turned to her boys, a hard set to her face. It had been her baby this time, from conception to execution. By some miracle Oliver had let her plan the whole thing out down to the very last detail starting with how they would get into the party and ending with how she would retrieve the information she needed from the servers.

"Okay, one more time, from the top," Felicity said as she stood up and went over to where they kept the comms. She pulled four from the case as she began speaking. "Roy, you are…?"

"Going in as a waiter. I'll get a lay of the land, how many guards are stationed and where, the best access points, and keep an eye on Bluestein until you need me," he finished for her. Roy had already slipped on the jacket worn by the rest of the catering crew. A good plan, in theory, but only until it was put to the test.

Felicity turned to her next partner. "Dig?"

The older man sighed and she figured it was because he always got the short end of the stick, but she also knew he was conceding this was a good plan. "Oliver's bodyguard, like always, and backup, if needed," Diggle replied. "One question." Felicity looked over at him and waited. "Do you think Roy can pull this off?"

She let out huff of annoyance. "Somebody's gotta give the kid a chance!" she fought back. "This is seriously not the hardest mission we've ever had. You remember my first one? I infiltrated an underground casino and intentionally got caught so I could slip a bug into the system, only it didn't turn out as I'd planned…"

"I think the better question is whether or not  _you_ can do this," Oliver put his two cents in. Felicity shot him a glare so sharp she could hear his teeth crack together when he closed his mouth. They'd been fighting about this all week. At times he would relent and give in, but he'd always find a way to poke holes in her plan. Having taken it to the personal level was now getting on her nerves and she snapped.

"You know what, Oliver? Put up or shut up!" Felicity barked as she stepped into his personal space to stare up at him with sharp blue eyes. "You know how important this mission, so either have a little faith in me, or I'm leaving you behind and doing it myself."

"I'm sorry," Oliver sighed and took a step back. "I just want to know you're sure this is going to work."

"You know what this mission means to me," she softly replied, her eyes falling to her bright yellow toenails. "This guy somehow managed to tear apart the one thing I loved. I'm not letting him get away with it." The determination in her voice when Felicity gazed back up at him was enough to settle things. Oliver's shoulders slumped in defeat before he brought his hands up to rest against her bare arms. His thumbs brushing across her skin made her eyes flutter shut for a moment as she centered herself, but then his voice brought her back.

"Good, then I'll play my part as dashing playboy-turned-CEO and they'll all be none the wiser to what's actually going on," Oliver said, his lips ticking up slightly in that smile that only seemed to come out around her.

Behind her, she could hear Roy whisper to Diggle, "What did Bluestein do to get her so riled up?"

"He managed to hack the Queen Consolidated servers and steal sensitive information about some of the Applied Sciences projects they're working on for the government and private investors," Diggle softly answered. "Nobody messes with Felicity's firewalls, just like nobody messes with her computers. They're her babies."

"Damn right," she grumbled as she stepped past them and swiped her clutch off her desk. They followed Felicity up the stairs and to the car waiting out back. She stepped in first after Diggle had opened the door for her and slid across to the end of the plush leather seat. Oliver sat down next, leaving a wide gap between them. Roy would take his own car and meet them at Bluestein's mansion. It would look strange if they arrived with the hired help in tow, something Felicity had thought of well in advance.

When the door shut, it was go time. The mission had officially begun even though there was a good half hour before they reached their destination. During that time, Felicity sat back and stared out the window thinking about the events leading to tonight.

Working as Oliver's executive assistant had diminished her ability to keep track of what was going on with the IT department, especially after Isabel's hostile takeover. It had taken months for Oliver to get the company back once it was made clear that Isabel had deceived everyone, hiding her involvement in Slade's plan up until Felicity had anonymously sent the information to every news station once things had settled down. Even though that awful woman was now dead, the consequence of her deception were far reaching.

A long, drawn out legal battle had taken place, but in the end Oliver had come out on top, like he always did, stronger, wiser and more determined than ever to steer the company in a better direction than it had been headed. Even though Felicity remained his executive assistant (for obvious reasons), he gave her far more power and control over the company's day-to-day operations, overseeing the plans they had come up with together while waiting for the final I's to be dotted and T's to be crossed before he got the company back.

It wasn't until Felicity got a frantic call from her old boss that she realized what had happened while she was gone. Someone had managed to wiggle their way through the firewalls she'd built from scratch to keep all their encrypted files secure, grabbed a few of the top secret things the company was working on, and made off with them.

The only relief Felicity had was that she'd made it super hard to crack into the files once they'd been stolen so the thieves wouldn't be able to hack their way into those for a few days at least. That gave them twenty-four hours to figure out how the security breach happened and how she would take care of it. The hacker had left a scant trail, but she was like a bloodhound, latching onto the scent that led her straight to the person's door. In this instance, it was a low-life hacker in desperate need of money to feed his addiction to prescription painkillers.

Oliver had paid him a visit as the Arrow the night before and easily managed to squeeze the information out of the thief before heading back to the lair. Martin Bluestein, an emerging giant in the tech industry, had paid the man several thousand dollars to hack into QC, grabbing whatever files he could from the Applied Sciences Division, and send them to his secure server back at his mansion. That was all the druggie knew. He had just been told what to take and the money was deposited into his account that night as soon as the files had been transferred.

As much as Felicity wanted a crack at him as well to find out how he'd managed to skirt her firewalls, it only took a quick search of his name, which happened to be Michael Estes, to find out he'd once worked at Wayne Enterprises as a high ranking IT tech that had fallen from grace when it was found out he'd been addicted to painkillers. After getting kicked out of Gotham, he'd come to Starling City for a new start, but hadn't been welcomed anywhere, least of all QC, which was what led to his vendetta.

Felicity sighed. It wasn't a story unfamiliar to her. After all, Oliver was the Arrow and she was his tech support, hacking into much more secure servers than that at QC. Which reminded her, she really needed to get back to that code she'd been working on to beef up security.  _Even in my thoughts I ramble_ , Felicity thought as a thin smile upturned her lips.

"What are you smiling about?" came Oliver's voice from beside her. His hand reached for hers, squeezing it lightly.

Her head whipped around, eyes finding his in the darkness of the car's interior. He was smiling, Felicity noted, but not in that devious way he tended to when they were on missions. No, this was his gentle smile, the one that reassured her everything would be okay and that she didn't need to worry. It was the smile she'd needed back in the lair but hadn't received until now, while they were alone, away from Roy's prying eyes.

"Nothing," Felicity simply replied, turning back to stare out the window again. She was still angry that he'd questioned her plan again, this time pointing out her own personal reservations instead of anything that could go wrong.

"I'm sorry," Oliver softly whispered, his thumb running back and forth across her knuckles. Damn that man for knowing exactly how to diffuse a tense situation between them. He always seemed to find her weaknesses and exploit them, something she wasn't about to let him do tonight. She was still mad and would remain so until this mission was over and she could tell him "I told you so."

She simply turned her head and looked at him. He seemed genuinely sorry for his actions, but she wasn't ready to forgive him. So just like he'd done many times to her, Felicity deflected. "We're here," she said, her hand slipping out of his grasp as the car slowed to a stop and Diggle got out to get the door for them.

Hearing Oliver puff an exasperated breath before he slid out of the car, she sighed. Tonight was going to suck just about as much as the night at the Queen mansion when she'd been angry with him over what happened with Barry Allen. Poor, poor Barry… He hadn't deserved Oliver's ire. He'd already been through a lot in his life. Then he had to go and get struck by lightning after helping save him. It had been almost seven months now and he was still in a coma.

"Are you coming?" Oliver ground out as he extended his hand towards her. Felicity knew he irritated and she didn't really care. Tonight, she just wanted the mission to go as planned and for there not to be any problems arising because of his short temper. In an effort to keep things calm, she took hold of his fingers and slowly exited the car, flashing cameras and lights almost blinding her as she stepped down the proverbial red carpet towards the door.

The paparazzi tended to ignore her now that they knew she was just Oliver's assistant, even if she was dressed in Elie Saab and Jimmy Choo from head to toe. She was simply another handler they had to get past in order to ask him overly personal questions about his life and his business. And it always worked to her advantage because it allowed her to fly under the radar and pass from one place to another unnoticed.

That was how she expected to break into the server room that night. Dinner would be served promptly at eight, followed by a charity auction for the Glades Recovery Fund Bluestein had set up under his own name. At least that was the one legitimate thing she found out about him. His charity was the real deal, funding projects in the hardest hit parts of the city after both the Undertaking and Slade's attack. But the corporate espionage would be his downfall. Felicity was certain of it.

With two hours of hobnobbing on her schedule before the auction began, Roy had plenty of time to scope out the place before she excused herself for an extended leave of absence in the ladies' room. The moment the auction started, Felicity would get up from the table and head out to the bathroom. She'd meet Roy in one of the outer hallways and together they'd make their way to the server room located on the other end of the mansion. Oliver was left to sit at the table, his presence meant to throw off any suspicion.

At least that was the plan. Of course things could go wrong. When did anything ever go right for them? It was the reason why Felicity had come up with contingencies just in case something did happen and they'd need to go to plans B, C, or D. Worst case scenario, Oliver would need to suit up and cause a distraction while she did her thing in the server room until they got the information they needed.

"Remind me again why you couldn't do this at the foundry?" Oliver asked as he leaned in closer to her while gently grabbing her elbow.

"All Bluestein's servers operate offline. The only time they've ever been connected to the internet was when Estes uploaded the files. That was it. I need direct access if I want to get back the information he stole from us," Felicity explained in hushed tones.

"Don't you think it's a little conspicuous that we're here in general? I mean the guy just stole confidential files from  _my_ company."

"He doesn't know you know. He thinks he got away with it, but considering all the protocols I put into place when I designed the network, I think he underestimated me and my ability to find things."

"Well, you are like a dog with a bone when it comes to this kind of stuff," Oliver quipped. She glanced up at him and saw the smile on his face. "That was a compliment, just so you know."

"It better have been," Felicity warned, giving him a warm smile.

"You two are so married," Roy said over the comm link.

She groaned as Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose, visibly angry and annoyed by Roy's statement. The slight cackle they heard that followed only served to piss him off even more. This mission was tense enough already. Felicity realized she needed to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible, and grabbed her boss by the arm, practically dragging him over to the bar for a drink.

"Vodka?" Oliver wryly asked.

"No, I'll take a Jack Honey on the rocks," she replied with a tilt of her head. He held up two fingers for the bartender who had been standing by them listening to their order. They were promptly served, and Felicity took a sip of hers, letting the sweet, mellow flavor of her whiskey linger in her mouth before she swallowed. "Why are your panties in such a twist tonight?" she then asked Oliver as he set his drink down beside hers.

A snort and a chuckle could be heard over the comms as he tried not to spit out his liquor. Felicity merely quirked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him as she sipped her drink once more and waited for his answer. "What are you talking about?" Oliver finally replied.

"Well, you've been in a horrible mood all day and the only look I've seen on your face since this morning has been your angry face. So, something's bothering you and I have a pretty good idea of what that is."

"Enlighten me."

"You're not happy playing second fiddle to Roy," Felicity said. She saw him take a breath, ready to tear into her, but she held up her hand and kept going. "Yes, you are our leader, and you're great at it, but the kid needs some field experience. We can't just keep him cooped up in the lair beating dummies and practicing shooting arrows every night. He needs to get out and see how this works. How else is he supposed to learn anything if you don't even give him a chance?"

"I've given him plenty of chances," Oliver countered.

"None of which have helped him understand how this team works," Felicity's voice began to rise. "Yeah, you've put him on patrol here and there after that big battle with Slade's army where he pretty much proved himself to be an asset, but that doesn't even begin to cover the scope of half the things we actually do."

"Because half the things we do involve keeping a cool head and a calm hand."

"Oh, really?" The incredulity shone bright in her eyes as she stared up at him, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. "I can recall several occasions where you've lost your cool in the past few months…"

"Mom, Dad…" the man in question interjected, but was quickly silenced when both of them responded.

"Shut up, Roy!" both Oliver and Felicity snapped under their breaths.

It didn't deter him from continuing. "Can we please stop fighting for a minute? I think the douche is headed your way," Roy informed them.

Their mouths snapped shut just moments before Martin Bluestein strode up to them. Felicity could only hope it hadn't looked like they were making a scene, but one glance at the man sauntering towards them was enough to confirm nobody had really noticed their heated discussion.

"Oliver Queen… What a pleasant surprise," Bluestein said, his slightly high pitched voice sounding almost annoyed. He was short and a little portly for his young age (he didn't look to be much older than Felicity), with piercing brown eyes and a mop of curly brown hair on top of his head.

What he lacked in the looks department he made up for with brains. He was a shrewd business man from what she'd read online and in the papers. The son of a poor farmer from the outskirts of the city, Bluestein had excelled in his studies. He'd gone to Harvard to study business and came out on top to start his own tech company after some of the friends he made there began showing them their grand plans for devices that would rival Apple and Google.

His investment in their startup paid off in spades, and he'd bought out his partners soon after the company went national. But due to the fact that they'd signed a crappy contract, Bluestein left them nearly penniless and broke, and with no remorse to their plight to boot. In Felicity's book, that made him about as evil as some of the criminals they'd been going after for the past two years. She'd wondered if his name had ever come up in Oliver's little book before the fall of the Glades, but she'd never really checked it out. Now, though, she was glad for the chance to finally bring him to his knees.

Corporate espionage was where she drew the line, especially when someone hacked into her beloved network. It was payback time, and standing in front of the little twerp now, Felicity wished she could just punch him in the face with the way he was leering at her. His beady little brown eyes raked over her silk clad body unabashedly.

"And who is this lovely beauty?" Bluestein asked as he quickly grabbed her hand and brought it to her lips. God, he reminded her of a fatter Howard Wolowitz from Big Bang Theory. "Enchanté, mademoiselle."

Bile rose in Felicity's throat as she tried every trick in the book not to throw up at that moment. His cold, clammy hand and cracked, chapped lips made her wish she could slap him right there for being the slimeball he was, but Oliver's hand on her elbow pulling her away from the disgusting jerk had her sighing in relief.

"This would be my executive assistant, Felicity," he sharply replied. Although his tone suggested friendly rivalry, his body language screamed "touch her one more time and I'll kill you."

As much as Felicity appreciated his protectiveness, in this case, she could easily fight her own battles. Martin Bluestein was nothing but a low level asshat she could easily take down without much of a fight. A swift kick to the groin would work pretty well, especially since she towered over him in her heels.

"What a lovely name," Bluestein remarked, his eyes still leering at her even as Oliver wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. Again, although she appreciated the gesture, Felicity still felt it was a little too much considering they were still trying to keep up appearances as boss and assistant, because in reality, that's all they were.

That fake "I love you" aside, they cared about each other, very much, but they were friends and partners, nothing more. These over-the-top displays of affection only ended up hurting her in the long run since the office rumor mill continued to peg her as a woman who had slept with her boss in order to get her position. As much as it hurt, Felicity did what she could to ignore the rumors. It also meant she got to wreak havoc on the coworkers who wouldn't stop blasting her by hacking their bank accounts or iTunes libraries and screwing with whatever she could get her hands on. That always made her feel better.

The sound of her phone ringing in her clutch knocked Felicity out of her musings. She quickly opened the bag and pulled it out to find it was Diggle trying to save her. "Excuse me, Mr. Queen, but I have to take this," she said, extricating herself from his grasp and wandering away from the bar so Oliver got stuck talking to Bluestein by himself.

"Thank you," she stage whispered into the phone.

"No problem. Figured you'd need to get out of there fast after hearing that exchange over the comms," Diggle replied as she continued to walk away from the crowded dance floor and towards the outskirts of the ballroom.

"Ugh, that was painful," Felicity said. "Bluestein is…" She took a deep breath and shuddered. " _Ew_ ," she finally added. "I swear, if I could punch him in the face, I would!"

"Calm down, Chuck Norris," Roy muttered over his comm. "We need to get this stuff off his servers first before you can roundhouse kick him in the nuts."

Over the phone she could hear Diggle chuckle while in her ear whatever conversation Oliver had been having with Bluestein wavered. She turned to find him looking utterly befuddled. Thankfully Bluestein continued to talk, ignoring Oliver's sudden lack of interest. It wasn't until Oliver excused himself, feigning a more pressing matter at hand, that the look on Martin's face began to mirror his. Her boss stalked off, taking both their drinks with him, leaving a bewildered Bluestein to stand all alone near the bar.

Felicity couldn't help the grin that crawled onto her face as she watched Oliver make his way towards her with their drinks. He passed her the glass she'd been drinking from then took a sip from his own. "Chuck Norris?" he asked. "That's still a thing?"

"To some people, yeah," Felicity answered. "Me? I prefer Bruce Lee. Enter The Dragon, one of the coolest kung fu movies of all time." She could see the ghost of a smile on Oliver's lips before he took another sip of his drink. Their little moment was soon interrupted by several people walking up to him asking about QC and business related things.

Felicity slinked off, finding their table and taking a seat. It was empty aside from her, something she relished as she brought up the building blueprints on her phone and began to search through them once more looking for the server room. By her calculations, it was somewhere to her right along the corridor that led to the back rooms of the house.

"Another drink, Miss?" The deep male voice that came from behind her startled Felicity to the point of dropping her phone straight onto the marble floor, its glass face cracking and nearly shattering.

"Shit!" she hissed before looking up to see who was behind her and finding none other than a very stunned and very sorry looking Roy Harper. "You  _jerk_!"

"Felicity?" she could hear Diggle in her ear.

"Roy…" Oliver's angry growl came next.

Felicity looked up to find both sets of eyes on them as Roy stood behind her holding a tray. He'd turned a shade of pale she'd never seen on a human being before and probably would have laughed had she not dropped her phone and killed it. "Of course something was bound to go wrong," she muttered before quickly turning to their newest team member. "Give me your phone," Felicity ordered.

It took Roy several moments to process her request, several moments they didn't have. He'd been hovering there for a while now, and it looked as if the staff was getting a little suspicious.

"Roy, phone!" Felicity repeated, a little more harshly this time, and he finally took the hint. He reached into the pocket of his issued apron and discretely handed her the device before scurrying off back towards the kitchen.

"I'd better hear an apology in the next few minutes," Oliver grumbled over the comm before another group of investors approached him.

"Felicity, I am  _so_ sorry. I really didn't mean to scare you. If I'd known you were working on your phone…"

"Oliver, quit being an ass," she interjected before either one of them could go any further. "Roy, something was bound to happen on this mission. I'd rather it be now than when I'm in the server room."

"I promise I'll get you a new one," he replied.

"Good boy," Oliver snidely shot back.

"Oliver, he's not a dog! Stop acting like a jerk!" Felicity admonished as she snatched her broken phone off the floor and quickly swapped out the SIM cards. She thanked her lucky stars that they all had the same phone (it had been a requirement the moment they'd started this little team) and that everything could be transferred with the simple push of a button.

Quickly moving her data from the broken phone to the working one, it only took Felicity another twenty minutes to set everything up to her standards. She'd give Roy her broken phone once he returned to serve dinner, which, thankfully was only minutes from starting. She hadn't noticed the table filling up until a hand fell to her forearm and her head shot up to find Oliver sitting beside her, a (fake) charming smile plastered on his handsome face indicating he wasn't in the best mood.

"You are really demanding, you know that?" he said under his breath.

Felicity merely rolled her eyes at him before setting her phone down on the table and looking up to see who had joined them. All the faces she saw were unfamiliar, but she smiled politely as Oliver introduced her to the CEO's and wives of several other tech companies she had heard of from around the city and country. She had a sinking suspicion that if Bluestein managed to wiggle his way into QC, then he most definitely had been stealing secrets from these people as well.

It made Felicity all the more resolute to get that information as soon as possible. She was itching for the auction to start so she could get her hands on those servers. One of her many trusty thumb drives lay in wait, tucked into the tactical garter around her right leg she'd designed for herself knowing how many missions she'd been on just like this. It was the reason there was such a high slit on her dress: easy access. Not only was there a thumb drive packed into it, but also a screw driver, a few assorted cables and other accessories, and a small dagger (just in case, per Diggle's orders).

Calloused fingers softly brushing along her bare shoulder finally pulled Felicity from her musing. The hand Oliver once had on her forearm had moved up to the back of her chair and was now absently tracing patterns over her skin. It was disarming and slightly comforting all at the same time and Felicity began to feel her head spin because the entire night had been a push-and-pull type of deal between the two of them.

Where Oliver would push, she would pull twice as hard in order to keep everything on track. It was exhausting, especially with the way he'd been reacting. His little touches were both a blessing and a curse. As much as they kept her grounded, they also confused and somewhat unsettled her. This was a man who'd once said he couldn't be with someone he really cared about, so why was he suddenly being so touchy-feely with her? Protective instinct was a possibility. That seemed to be his thing as it already was, so she rolled with it.

When Oliver leaned in close and whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry about earlier," Felicity felt her body and brain freeze for a couple of seconds as the warmth of his breaths wisped across her skin.

Silently counting to three in her head, she turned and replied, "It's okay. Well, not  _okay_ okay because you were being pretty rude, but I forgive you, okay." He chucked softly at her slight ramble, more of his warm breaths spilling over her bare flesh making her cheeks turn a pale pink her makeup was finding impossible to hide.

Oliver pulled away then, his arm slipping from the back of her chair and falling to the table just as waiters began to arrive with their first course.

Roy came by a moment later, leaning down to place a plate of salad in front of her. "This doesn't have any nuts, does it?" Felicity asked, discretely slipping the broken phone into his apron pocket as he paused to listen to her question.

"I don't believe so, but I can go back and check," he answered before scurrying away.

Now that the phones had been exchanged, all they had to do was wait for the auction to start in less than an hour. Easier said than done considering Felicity was itching to get a move on with this mission. Not only did she want to get her files back from Bluestein's servers, she had another little trick up her sleeve to make sure he would never do this to anyone ever again and to disgrace him publicly in a matter of a few keystrokes.

Getting through the seven course meal was proving to be a serious hindrance to Felicity's attention span. Her mind continued to wander to the mission and all the possible outcomes, so much so that every single question someone asked her needed to be repeated. She had a sinking feeling that the Starling City elite currently assumed the only reason she'd been brought here tonight was to look like arm candy for Oliver Queen.

It was probably after the third time someone had to repeat their question that he finally nudged her and leaned in to say, "Relax. Everyone's starting to think you're just another blonde bombshell if you keep spacing out."

Suddenly, a great idea hit Felicity. She'd needed a reason to spend an extended amount of time in the bathroom, and with Oliver's blonde bombshell comment rattling around in her brain, it gave her the perfect excuse to let off a little steam and maybe even make a bit of a scene to boot.

Her eyes shooting to his with a look of pure anger, she loudly replied, "Is that all I am to you? Just another blonde bombshell?"

From the way Oliver's mouth hung open, he hadn't expected the sudden turn of events. Hell, even she was surprised by the amount of venom she spat in his face, but it was all going towards the perfect ruse.  _Almost as perfect as that fake "I love you,"_  her brain mused.

"What…? I…?" Oliver started to respond, still looking absolutely stunned by her obvious annoyance with him.

Felicity cut him off, "The only reason I took this position as your assistant was so I could help you! Not be some arm candy for charity events. I graduated MIT at the top of my class, a year early, with a degree in computer science, not the secretarial arts! So either you stop treating me like some office bimbo and start treating me like an asset, or I walk. Because I am so done being treated like I'm some kind of office tramp that everyone seems to think I am!"

"But… Felicity… I…" He gaped at her as she grabbed her purse and stood up, quickly making her way to the bathroom as Oliver rose from his seat to try and follow her. "Felicity!" she could hear him calling out. "Felicity, wait!" She knew she was probably going to catch a little hell from her outburst, but it had been the only way she could have excused herself from the table for so long.

"I don't know what the hell happened back there, but your timing couldn't have been more perfect," Diggle commented over the comms. She could almost hear the smile in his voice. "The auction is just about to start."

"Perfect," Felicity replied.

"Wait, did you just…?" Oliver began to question before she cut him off again.

"Yep! Used the same trick you used that night in the mansion," she said, making her way through the empty corridor. She spotted Roy standing in the shadows at the end of the hall waiting for her.

"You're a genius. Nice distraction, Blondie," he commented with a grin. "Now let's get going. I think I found it." He led them down another empty hallway that went further towards the back of the house and stopped at a closed door.

"How do you know?" Felicity asked. He nodded his head towards the door and pointed to the special card reading lock installed beside it.

"None of the other doors have one of those," Roy answered.

"Good catch," she praised. Felicity grabbed her phone and began running a program that would find the correct frequency to disarm the lock. When it clicked open, she fist-pumped the air and pushed her way inside as Roy looked on in amusement.

There, sitting in front of her, was a long bank of servers connected to a single access point. The computer itself was small, but something she could easily hack into now that she was finally in the room. For all the security Bluestein had in place, this seemed a little too easy. But Felicity knew to be careful. This could all be an elaborate trap that would find them in danger, so she took all necessary precautions to keep her and Roy safe until she was done with her part of the mission.

The first thing Felicity did was disable any and all cameras near and inside the room, putting them on a loop of archival footage. Then it was on to the computer itself. Although it appeared to be low grade, the security installed onto it was top notch. She grumbled her frustrations as her first and second attempts to get in failed.

"Uh, Felicity," Roy said as he remained by the door looking out into the hallway.

"Shh! I'm almost in!" Felicity hushed him. She was too busy finally breaking the system's code to give a damn about him at the moment. After what had seemed like forever, she'd finally gotten into the secure network, locating the files almost instantly. Placing her right foot on the chair in front of her, she pulled the dress back and grabbed the thumb drive out of her garter belt, shoving it into the USB port and beginning the download before grabbing one more piece of tech she inserted into the ethernet port.

Behind her, Felicity heard a gasp before Roy cleared his throat. She looked up to find him staring at her bare leg, his blue eyes wide in shock and… awe? It didn't matter. So what if he was getting a little show. Just seeing the look on his face was worth it and she gave him a knowing grin before getting back to work.

"This should screw Bluestein over really nicely," Felicity snickered to herself as she enabled the wireless transmitter to send out all the information on the servers straight to the SCPD. A moment later, she downloaded one last piece of code that would eat away the information stored there right after it had been sent to Detective Lance and his department.

"Felicity!" Roy loudly whispered. She held up her hand to shush him once more. The upload was almost done. She was just unplugging the the thumb drive from its port when an arm wrapped around her waist and practically carried her out of the room. A little squeak of surprise escaped her lungs before she was thrown against the wall, her back hitting a little harder than necessary.

Roy was standing in front of her, his face mere breaths from hers before she heard footsteps approaching. 'Shit!' Felicity's mind screamed. They were about to get busted by Bluestein's security team. Her worst case scenario was playing out as Oliver and Diggle shouted in their ears to get out of there as soon as possible. But there wasn't any time.

She wasn't expecting Roy to think so quickly on his feet. When his hands slid into her hair and pulled her forward, she simply reacted, grabbing the lapels of his jacket and pulling him towards her. There was no time to think about what was about to happen. She just knew they needed to distract the guards from the real reason they were in that hallway. His lips were on hers before either one of them had time to realize this was probably a bad idea.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That took longer than I would have liked to finish, but, hey! It's done! Hope y'all enjoy it.

The kiss started out as just their lips pressed together, but then Roy's mouth began to move and Felicity moved along with it. A tiny moan escaped her throat as the incessant questions of "What's going on?" and "Is everything okay?" were soon drowned out as the intensity increased. Soon Roy's tongue began to lick across her lower lip and she moaned again, inviting it into her mouth.

For several long, heart pounding seconds, Felicity found herself lost in that kiss. It wasn't until Roy finally pulled himself away that she realized what had happened and the full weight of it finally sank in. She'd kissed Roy Harper, ex-boyfriend to her boss's little sister, newest member of their team, someone several years her junior. Oh, that had been one hell of a mistake she was already beginning to regret.

There should have been a contingency plan in place for this, one where the possibility of Bluestein's guards finding them could easily be explained away. But Roy had done what needed to be done. Although Felicity praised him for thinking quick on his feet, it didn't excuse his behavior, or her own for that matter.

As they stood staring into each other's eyes, their breaths coming out in pants, they could hear a throat clear behind them. Felicity glanced over his shoulder and saw two burly men in black suits staring at them, arms crossed over their chests.

"You shouldn't be here," the one closest to them said, giving her the appreciative once over with cold blue eyes.

"Sorry, we were just looking for a little privacy," Roy said with a practiced ease that almost rivaled Oliver's when it came to this type of tense situation. "I mean, just look at her. Wouldn't you want some too?"

The growl she heard in her ear emanating from Oliver's throat reminded them both it was time to shut up and get out of there. Grabbing Roy's hand, Felicity tugged him away from the wall and back down the hall. "Sorry," she called over her shoulder, unable to form any other coherent thoughts as her chest continued to heave from a mix of adrenaline and the closest she'd ever been to lust in a long time.

Oliver intercepted them just as they entered the ballroom, the thin line of his lips and his set jaw letting them know he was not happy at that moment. Felicity's carefully thought out plan proved to be flawed, and she knew in that instant there would probably be hell to pay once they all returned to the lair. His large hand grabbed her elbow, roughly pulling her away from Roy's grasp before leading her around the perimeter of the spacious room towards the exit where Diggle was waiting for them.

"What the hell happened in there?!" Oliver exploded once they were out of anyone's earshot. A pale-face, wide-eyed Roy had just rounded the corner from the service entrance and was headed in their direction, but hesitated for a moment upon hearing the anger in Oliver's voice.

Felicity felt sorry for the poor kid. Although what he'd done had saved their mission, she knew there would be hell to pay once Oliver found out. Her first thought was to neutralize the situation. With his hand still gripping her elbow, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around his forearm, giving it a light squeeze. His eyes immediately fell to hers and softened. Panting breaths turned into a deep sigh as he centered himself.

"Everything's okay," Felicity softly whispered. "Nothing bad happened in there. It just took a little longer than expected to hack into Bluestein's system, but Roy came up with a distraction in order to keep the guards off our trail. I've got all the information off his servers and sent the evidence of his corporate espionage to the SCPD. They'll probably be here soon so we really should get going if we don't want to get caught up in the aftermath."

Her soft tone and gentle voice managed to get Oliver to calm down even further. He relaxed under her touch, letting go of her elbow. Sirens blared in the distance as faint flashes of blue and red illuminated the sky. Felicity tugged the sleeve of his suit jacket, pulling him towards the open door of the town car where Diggle stood patiently waiting for them. Once inside, they sped off down a back road just as the SCPD arrived on scene.

"I guess we can chalk this up as another win for Team Arrow," Felicity said with just the hint of a smile playing on her lips. But the man beside her continued to silently brood, his eyes dark and staring out the window.

"You never answered my question," Oliver replied, his eyes remaining focused on the blur of city lights that passed his window.

"What are you talking about?" Felicity shot back. "I told you…"

"The distraction," he interrupted. His head whipped around, eyes zeroing in on her. "What was the distraction?"

"It's not important!" she replied.

"It is to me."

They sat there staring at each other as a stifling silence fell between them. Even Diggle squirmed in the driver's seat as he waited for an answer. It stretched on for several minutes as Felicity contemplated her choice of words.

"So, um… I had just finished the download of our data from the server when Roy grabbed me and practically carried me out of the room because the guards were coming. I had no idea they were that close, so he came up with something on the spot. And, well, he kinda, sorta…" she rambled, almost afraid to speak those last two words. The way Oliver stared at her now as she fidgeted with one of the jewels on her bag made her feel as if he already knew. His eyes were dark and stormy just like they'd been when Barry was around.

"I kissed her," came Roy's response over the comms.

Damn, she'd forgotten they all still had those in.

"What?" Oliver growled in his Arrow voice. It was deep and low and so incredibly intimidating, more so than she'd ever heard it before. Anger flashed in his eyes, but before she could say anything to try and placate him, his head turned back to the window and he refused to look at Felicity for the rest of the drive back to the lair. She couldn't understand why he was so upset about it. They'd kissed in order to distract the guards from the real reason they'd been in that hallway. Why was Oliver suddenly so pissed off about it? Had he been there, she assumed he'd probably have done the same thing.

Upon reaching Verdant's back parking lot, Oliver stormed out of the car, slamming the door shut with such force that Felicity jumped slightly before exiting on her side. He was already at the secret door, punching in his key code and throwing it open. Heavy footsteps bounded down the metal staircase as she followed suit, kicking off her heels so she wouldn't trip and fall.

When she hit the bottom step, she found him stripping off his black suit, quickly replacing it with green leather. "Oliver, what the hell is going on with you?" Felicity asked sharply as she rushed towards him until she was deep in his personal space. Behind her, the door slammed shut as two sets of footfalls ran down the stairs. She ignored them, getting an eyeful of Oliver's angry glare instead.

"I told you Roy wasn't ready!" he shouted, making her jump back, but only slightly.

Regaining her footing, Felicity stood her ground. "What are you talking about?" she shouted back. "He did just fine! We got in, I downloaded the data, set up the bug and we left without so much as a scratch!"

"He deviated from the plan!" Oliver continued his angry triad through gritted teeth.

"Yes,  _my_ plan, not yours!" Felicity shot back.

"Yeah,  _your_ plan, with all it's contingencies and fail-safes." His voice was dripping with sarcasm as he stared at her with narrowed piercing blue eyes.

That made Felicity's blood boil immediately. "So what?" she fired back, setting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him as she got right into his personal space the same way he got into hers. "At least I had contingencies and fail safes! When do your plans ever have those? Oh, right,  _never_! Because your plans usually depend on violence and brute force!"

"At least then I can expect things to go wrong," Oliver angrily replied.

"Yeah, and then  _I'm_ left patching everyone up because you're too injured to get down the stairs by yourself!"

"What if something had gone horribly wrong? Then where would your so called contingencies and fail safes be?"

"It's not like it hasn't happened before! If anything, Roy thought quicker on his feet than you ever have! If he hadn't kissed me,  _then_ things would have gone horribly wrong! But because he did, the guards were none the wiser as to why we were in that hallway to begin with."

Poking an angry bear with a stick would have been less dangerous than what she was saying to Oliver now, but they were both beyond their tolerance for bullshit at that moment, so anything was up for grabs.

The pure, unadulterated anger that flared in Oliver's eyes startled her, but Felicity continued to stand her ground. She'd gone toe to toe with him on many occasions. Hell, the first mission Oliver had ever involved her in had gone in a similar fashion, and she'd had the balls to walk out on it. She probably should have walked out when they first began arguing over this, but since that first time, Felicity had learned quite a bit about how to deal with Oliver when he was being a jackass.

"I never should have agreed to this stupid plan," Oliver growled as he pulled on his green leather jacket. "It never would have gone wrong if…"

"It was better than all the other plans  _you_  tried to come up with!" Felicity cut him off before he started listing his reasons for why her plan hadn't been the right plan. "If I remember correctly, they all involved shooting your way into the party and blowing the server room up!" He just stared at her, his body as tense as his bowstring. There was more to this than he was letting on, more than he cared to admit, and it had everything to do with the deviation to her plan. "But that's not why you're mad is it? You're mad that Roy had to kiss me!"

Upon mentioning the kiss, Oliver's head snapped up, and he glared at her. Those sharp blue eyes gave him away. Felicity could see the jealous rage building behind those azure pools quickly simmering to a boil. If she thought she'd been poking an angry bear earlier, she was now playing with an angry bear holding a lit fuse. It should have stopped her from prodding, but Felicity was already too riled up to care.

"That's it, isn't it? That's why you're so pissed. You're angry that Roy got to kiss me before you did!" She laughed bitterly. "Oh, the irony. All this time, we've been dancing around each other with fake 'I love you's and loaded looks. Well, guess what, Oliver! You had plenty of chances to do something about that, but you never took them! What did you expect me to do? Wait? Because I'm done waiting! Kissing Roy was nice. Kissing Roy was fun! It's been three years since I last kissed someone, and when that opportunity came up, I kissed back! So go ahead and have your little hissy fit because what happened between me and Roy shouldn't be any of your concern!"

There, now everything was out in the open, at least from her end. Felicity stood there, her chest heaving as her body flushed from head to toe with her anger. She stared up at Oliver with stormy blue eyes daring him to do something, say something in response. All he did was stare back at her with that same dark expression, anger and frustration simmering beneath the tense set of his jaw.

"Guys, maybe it's time you two took a little break, you know, before you tried to kill each other," Roy stepped in, one hand falling on Felicity's shoulder as the other pressed against Oliver's chest in an attempt to pry them apart. She hadn't realized they were now standing mere breaths from each other, the tension rolling off them in waves.

Without so much as a warning, Oliver took half a step back. What happened next felt like a blur. His right hand swung up and connected with Roy's face, knocking the youngster flat onto the cold concrete floor. Felicity squeaked in surprise, jumping back just as he pounced on his protégé's prone form and began to pummel him with punch after punch.

"Oliver,  ** _stop_**!" she yelled to no avail. He kept going as Roy quickly countered his attack, throwing his own punches in self defense. They rolled around on the floor for several more seconds before Dig came rushing to pull them apart. He grabbed Oliver by the collar of his jacket and shoved him off Roy.

"That's enough!" Diggle yelled. Still holding Oliver by the collar at an arm's length, he extended his free hand towards Roy, helping the kid up. Both he and Oliver had suffered bloody noses, split lips, and bruises in the altercation. Diggle pushed the youngster in Felicity's direction. "You take care of Roy. I'll deal with Oliver," he said before turning his friend around and shoving him away from the center of the foundry towards the training dummies.

Felicity led her charge to her computer chair and sat him down before heading towards the med bay for supplies to clean him up. When she returned, Roy's head was down, his eyes glued to the floor at his feet. Gently, she slipped her hand beneath his chin and raised it. Bruises had begun to form where Oliver's fist had made contact with his jaw and left eye. Although Felicity was no stranger to these types of injuries, knowing that they'd been caused by a member of their team, over her no less, made her cringe.

"I'm sorry I kissed you," Roy mumbled as she swiped a warm, wet washcloth along his cheek, cleaning up several minor cuts and abrasions in one go. His eyes avoided hers, choosing instead to stare at the beaded straps of her dress.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Felicity firmly replied, her hand forcing his eyes to look at her as she continued to wipe blood off his face. "You did what you had to do in order to save the mission and protect me. If anything, Oliver should be apologizing to you for being a complete and total idiot."

"I still love Thea even if she hates me and never wants to see me again," Roy said. "I shouldn't have kissed you. It was out of line and…"

"No, stop," she interrupted by putting a hand on his chest. Roy stared up at her, blue eyes wide. "What you did kept everyone safe and it kept us from blowing our cover. I got the data transferred and the bug planted, and that's what really matters. Our mission succeeded because you were thinking quickly and clearly. Stop apologizing." She swiped the washcloth over his lips and smiled.  _Besides, it's not everyday I get to kiss a handsome young man._

Roy chuckled and smiled in return. "That's okay, Blondie. It's pretty hard for women to resist my charm," he replied with a smirk. The color immediately drained from Felicity's face when she realized she'd said that out loud.

She slapped his arm. "Don't get cocky," Felicity halfheartedly warned before throwing the washcloth into the water bowl and reaching for a couple of bandages. One was place against his jaw where Oliver had hit him first, tearing the skin so it turned an angry shade of red and bled profusely. Another was placed over his left eyebrow. The rest of his cuts were minor, but there was no doubt in her mind Roy would end up with a black eye by morning.

Just as she finished cleaning him up, his expression darkened. The smile that had played on his lips faded into a tight-lipped frown. For a moment, Felicity wondered what had soured his mood, but then a hand fell against her bare shoulder and she nearly jumped. Turning, she found Oliver standing behind her, leather jacket still on and face just as bruised and battered as Roy's. The youngster had done a good job defending himself judging from the cuts and abrasions high on her boss's cheeks and the bruise forming on the right side of his jaw.

"What do you want, Oliver?" Felicity grumbled before turning away from him and back towards Roy. She checked the young man's face over once more, all the while Oliver's hand remained on her shoulder. The feeling of his calloused fingers against her soft skin tied her stomach in knots. On one hand, she'd finally made her feelings known. On the other, he hadn't said a word about his own making her think that maybe this was one-sided after all. But then why would he be so angry at Roy for kissing her? It made no sense...

"I want to… apologize," Oliver ground out, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder before coaxing her to turn around and face him.

Felicity averted her gaze from his, choosing instead to focus on cleaning up the medical supplies that littered her desk. After taking several deep breaths to center herself, she finally looked up, her eyes meeting the soft blue of his that told her he wasn't sure of himself at that moment. "To who: me or Roy?" she asked, gathering the trash and throwing it into the bin beneath her desk. "Because quite frankly I think Roy deserves the apology way more than I do. After all…"

"Felicity," Oliver cut her off with the simple whisper of her name on his lips. She slowly turned to face him. Their eyes locked and the myriad of emotions she saw warring in those deep azure pools nearly overwhelmed her. Oliver took a deep breath and added, "Both of you."

Felicity stood slightly shocked. Whatever Diggle had said to him at the other end of the foundry had to have been life-altering, otherwise Oliver wouldn't be apologizing right now. He'd be running up the steps, hood and mask in place with his quiver strapped to his back and bow in hand, ready to beat down any criminals that crossed his path. She knew that was his usual way of dealing with anything that rattled him. Well, that or beating training dummies senseless.

"Roy, I'm sorry for losing my cool. It was… uncalled for," Oliver said evenly as he turned to his teammate, his hand extended as a peace offering.

They stared each other down for several seconds as Roy shifted in his seat. The tension was so thick Felicity could cut it with a butter knife. The men eyed each other for a full minute, both waiting to see what the other would do until Roy finally stood from his chair and warily replied, "Apology accepted," then shook Oliver's hand.

Felicity sighed inwardly, glad that the two of them had made up, but it was her turn now, and she wasn't sure she could deal with Oliver at that moment. Not after all that she'd said to him. It was an awkward conversation best saved for a later date considering they had an audience. Roy and Diggle did  _not_ need to hear about their personal lives.

"Felicity…" The low whisper of her name spilling from Oliver's lips broke her train of thought. Why did he have to say her name like it was a blessing and a curse all rolled into one? It made Felicity's heart squeeze as the butterflies in her stomach went from dormant to chaotic fluttering in less than a second.

Closing her eyes to take a deep breath, another hand fell to her forearm, this one slightly smaller than what she was used to, but still just as comforting.

"You gonna be okay, Blondie?" Roy murmured so only she could hear. Her eyes opened and were met with the soft, reassuring blue of his own. When Felicity nodded, he let her go. "I'm going home to get out of this monkey suit," he said. "I'll see you guys later." And with that, he fled up the stairs.

"I'm headed home too," Diggle added as he walked up behind them. "I think I've seen enough action today." He stepped past them and said, "I'll see you guys in the morning." Just as he made it to the stairs, he added, "And Oliver, keep in mind what I told you."

Oliver nodded sharply before his gaze turned to Felicity. When the door slammed shut, he quietly said, "I'm sorry about tonight."

"I am not some piece of meat to be fought over, Oliver," she sternly replied before tearing herself away from his grasp. Over the course of their partnership, he'd apologized to her many times, but none felt as charged as tonight's apology. He'd treated her like some prize to be won at a fair instead of like the woman she was, and that made Felicity angrier than she'd been in a long time.

"I know, and it wasn't my intent to treat you that way," Oliver said, stepping around her so they could look at each other, but she continued to evade him. "I was an idiot to let my emotions get the better of me. I am so sorry I made you feel that way."

"Apologizing doesn't excuse your actions. It's one thing to question my decisions. It's another when you start to fight over me like I'm a toy!" Felicity's voice slowly grew in pitch as she looked up to glare at him.

Oliver's head hung in shame, his gaze falling to the floor. "Deja vu," he muttered before he turned and began shedding the green leather jacket.

"What? Deja vu? What do you mean by 'deja vu'?" Felicity prodded, but he refused to answer, focusing instead on slipping a plain white t-shirt over his head. "Answer me, Oliver! I've had enough of your evasive bullshit tonight!"

"I don't wanna talk about it," he said from between gritted teeth.

"Oh, yes you will!" she scoffed. "I wasn't the one running hot and cold all night. I wasn't the one making his partner question herself about everything. I wasn't the one who got in a fight with his teammate over a kiss! No, I was the one who actually made her feelings known, unlike you, Mr. 'I'm too dark and brooding to let my emotions show until someone does something I don't like' Queen!"

Felicity was in his face again, her finger poking him in the chest as he stood there, stoic as ever, absorbing her wrath without so much as a twitch. It only served to riled her up even more. "Damn it, Oliver! Say something because I will walk out and you'll never see me again!" she seethed. In the heat of the moment, she hadn't planned to make such an ultimatum, but seeing how he just stood there staring at her with nearly empty eyes made Felicity's heart crumble.

The silence stretched on. With every passing moment, Felicity knew she wasn't going to get an answer, no matter how desperately she hoped he would say something. But he remained stoic as ever, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. With a sigh, she turned to her desk, grabbed her purse and began making her way towards the stairs. "Goodbye, Oliver," she whispered without turning to look at him.

This was it, the straw that broke the camel's back. Felicity couldn't stand it anymore. She'd had enough of Oliver's silence and she couldn't take anymore. Chunks of her heart broke loose with every step she took up the stairs. It was over; their partnership, their friendship, everything she ever held dear. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, and when she reached the landing, an ugly sob threatened to escape her throat if she didn't get out of there.

Slipping into her shoes, Felicity was about to reach for the door handle when she heard Oliver call out her name. A moment later, he was bounding up the stairs at lightning speed until he reached the landing and put himself between her and the door.

"Laurel," he simply said.

Felicity's jaw dropped as a fresh set of tears streaked down her cheeks.  _Why was he bringing his ex into this conversation? Was he trying to get her to leave even faster?_

"What? No!" Oliver quickly replied as his hands fell to her shoulders. Felicity's eyes shot up and she realized she'd voiced her thoughts. "Deja vu. I had this conversation with Tommy before…" The forlorn look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know, but Oliver quickly picked himself up and continued. "Anyway, we had this same conversation about Laurel before I went and screwed everything up between the three of us, and honestly, I thought I'd done the same thing tonight."

He was struggling with his words, pausing, shifting on his feet. Felicity gave him a moment to gather his thoughts, urging him to continue with a silent gaze.

"I am… terrified… of screwing things up with you," Oliver finally admitted. "I care about you more than I've ever cared about anyone in my life. You… You're the glue that holds this team together, that holds  _me_ together. If I lost you, I don't know what I'd do."

Silence stretched between them for several moments before Felicity replied, "Then tell me, Oliver. Don't hide from me anymore. Don't shut me out. Talk to me. You know I'm here for you. And you know I care about you, too."

He stepped closer, his hands trailing down her arms until their fingers laced together. "Then I'm telling you, I  _don't_ want to lose you. Not now. Not ever," Oliver said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Please don't walk out that door." He paused, took a breath, and leveled her with a gaze so deep and intense that Felicity could see down to the very depths of his soul. He was laying himself bare for her, putting his cards on the table, and in an instant, she felt as if she couldn't breathe. The emotions she saw swirling in those deep blue pools took the air right out of her lungs.

"Why?" Felicity managed to ask before her throat complete closed on her.

"Because I love you." Oliver said it with such ease, like he'd been saying those three words to her all his life when in reality this was only the second time she'd ever heard them pass his lips. "I've been in love with you for a while, and I want more than partners and friends, I want  _us_ , but I'm scared that if I try, it'll blow up in my face like everything else has. I'm scared that if this doesn't work out between us, I  _will_ lose you… for good."

Felicity was still too stunned to speak as she processed his words. Oliver loved her, had been in love with her for a while. It should have scared her considering she hadn't even thought it was possible until this very moment when he was pouring his heart out to her, but it didn't. Instead, she felt as if she was floating. Her heart hammered in her chest, feelings she'd been refusing to pay any attention to suddenly bubbling to the surface.

"That night in the mansion… It wasn't a ruse. You… you weren't just saying that to throw Slade off. It… it was the truth?" Felicity stuttered.

"Yes," Oliver said. "That night, I thought it was the last time I'd ever see you. So I had to tell you. And when I say 'I love you' now, it's not to hear it back. I say it to make sure you know. I don't know if you love me. I don't know if you'll  _ever_ love me. But just know that I love you and that…"

Standing up on the tips of her toes, Felicity cut him off mid-sentence by pressing her lips to his. It was the most heartfelt and sincere moment that had ever passed between them. She could feel Oliver's words seep into the broken pieces of her heart, mending it almost instantly. Never in her life had she expected this kind of raw expression of love from this man, but here he was, saying things she thought had only been a lie to defeat a madman. It made Felicity want to sing with joy.

Oliver stiffened for a moment, surprised by what was happening, but quickly got over it and returned her kiss with fervor. His hands released hers and one sank into the loose curls against the back of her head while the other came up to cup her face. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Felicity pulled him closer and nearly lost her balance in the process.

When she stumbled, Oliver was quick to catch her before she fell. His arm flew to her waist, banding around it so he could firmly press her to his chest. All the while, his lips stayed on Felicity's, deepening the kiss further until she had to break away for oxygen. Together they panted for breath, their eyes locked as he let his forehead rest against hers.

"I'll always love you," Oliver breathlessly whispered as the hand that was once in her hair now gently cupped her jaw, his thumb stroking away the tear tracks that still stained her cheeks.

Felicity's heart fluttered in her chest as she gazed up at him, a smile spreading out across her lips. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked. "We could have avoided this mess."

"Because I was scared. You mean more to me than anyone else ever has. You're all I think about. You're everything I want."

Felicity smiled. "And you're everything I want," she replied. "But you have to promise me you won't act like that selfish asshole I saw an hour ago."

Oliver groaned, but the smile remained. "I promise," he murmured, dropping another kiss to her lips.

"You know I'm still mad at you about what happened with Roy," Felicity mumbled against his lips as he continued to kiss her.

"How about I take you home and make it up to you," Oliver replied, "in your bed? Once…? Twice…? Three times…? Maybe more?" He punctuated his words with kisses that trailed down the exposed flesh of her neck until he reached the hollow of her throat and his tongue swept across her skin.

Heat radiated throughout Felicity's body until it manifested in a moan that reverberated off the cold concrete walls. Her brain told her to stop, that she was being too easy on him for his transgressions, but her heart told her this was a great idea. The war raged on as his hand crept beneath the slit in her dress and began trekking up her thigh.

"How about dinner first?" Felicity replied, finally coming up with a compromise between her head and her heart.

Pressing one more kiss to the pulse point in her neck that made her shiver and regret her question, Oliver pulled away. He was still smiling, though, his eyes alight with a fire she'd never seen before. "It's a date," he whispered into her ear before pulling away from her completely. "Tomorrow night?"

Felicity nodded. "Tomorrow night sounds perfect," she said.

"I'll pick you up at seven. See you then." And with that, Oliver made his way back down the stairs as she tried to gather breath into her lungs.

The loss of his heat pressed against her body made Felicity wish she had given in to her needs, but as she stepped outside into the cool night air, she knew it was the right thing to do. Besides, absence made the heart grow fonder. Right, if only her body understood that.


End file.
